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All the King’s Armies: General Gerasimov is a new Overall Commander in Ukraine
“When my guard comes forward, there is no room for democracy,” was how Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany once remarked. This referred to the last offensive attempts of the Kaiser’s Germany at the end of World War I. Today, for the Russian autocratic leadership, these words also sound like an urgent program of action. The war in Ukraine is at its tipping point. The Russian Federation and Ukraine, with their enormous differences in the size of their economies and territories, have comparable potentials on the front. Neither side can turn the situation in its favor. Russian president Vladimir Putin is stuck in Ukraine. The time has come to bring forward the “Old Guard,” as Napoleon once did in his famous 100 days.
On January 11, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu appointed Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, as commander of the special military operation in Ukraine. General Sergey Surovikin, who had previously headed the special operation, became Mr. Gerasimov’s deputy. Commander of the Ground Forces Oleg Salyukov and Deputy Chief of the General Staff Aleksey Kim were also appointed as his deputies.
According to a press release from the Defense Ministry, the “increase of the level of leadership” of the special operation “is connected with the…